NCAA FB

Georgia State's Bill Curry to retire after season

ATLANTA (AP)

Georgia State football coach Bill Curry announced Wednesday he
will retire after the 2012 season.

Curry, 69, also has coached at Georgia Tech, Alabama and
Kentucky. His time spent at Georgia State was unique. He was hired
in 2008 to start the program and led the Panthers to a 6-5 record
in their inaugural 2010 season.

''The opportunity to start a football program at a university
that I love, in my hometown, and the privilege to coach these young
men has been one of the highlights of my career,'' Curry said.
''This has been a labor of love, but after this season, it will be
the right time to step away from coaching. I am blessed with good
health, but I am ready to move on to other things in my life and
devote more time to my wife, Carolyn, and our children and
grandchildren.''

Georgia State finished 3-8 in 2011, leaving Curry 9-13 in two
seasons.

Georgia State announced in April it will move up to the Football
Bowl Subdivision in 2013 as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
With Curry's announcement, the school will make that move with a
new coach.

Georgia State will play in the Colonial Athletic Association
this season.

Athletic director Cheryl L. Levick said the school will conduct
a national search for a new coach following the season.

''As much as we would all love for Bill Curry to be our football
coach forever, we certainly understand and respect this very
personal decision,'' Levick said. ''Bill remains as committed as
ever to his role as head coach and mentor to these young men in
this final chapter of his coaching career. I think he is
invigorated by the unique challenges of this season as we build
toward our move to FBS and the Sun Belt.''

Curry's contract ends on June 20, 2013. Following the season, he
plans to assume a role working with Georgia State University
president Mark Becker at least through the end of the contract.

His overall record is 92-118-4 in 19 seasons. He won the Bobby
Dodd National Coach of the Year Award in 1989 after leading Alabama
to a Southeastern Conference championship.

Curry, an alumnus of Georgia Tech, was a center in the NFL for
10 seasons with the Green Bay Packers (1965-66), Baltimore Colts
(1967-72), Houston Oilers (1973) and Los Angeles Rams (1974). He
played in two Pro Bowls.

He worked for 11 years as a college football analyst for ESPN
before he was hired by Georgia State.

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